Since his sexual escapades came to the knowledge of his entire congregation, Fr. Joby Kachappilly is no more the Director of Divine Retreat Centre-Toronto (although the flyer claims him to be). He is in hiding in Rome under the guise of pursuing higher studies since the past several months after the Vincentian authorities came to know of his sexual assaults on young women in India and in Canada. His superiors and confreres, especially of the Mary Matha Province, have been shielding him and covering up for him during the last five months of our having taken up the issue of his having sexually molested and raped several young girls over a period of at least two to three years.

On the afternoon of August 2, I posted two sets of emails (e-addresses withheld) to the authorities of the Catholic Church in the Persian Gulf (emails were sent to around 50 other contacts in the Gulf States):

You must also have received the e-mail with document sent by Mr. Michael Prabhu or at least heard about it. Leaving the judgment to the competent court(s), I strongly advice to look for another preacher for the retreat you have scheduled on September 2 – 4, 2017. Although there has been no public verdict until date, it would not be prudent to engage Fr. Joby as long as the case is pendent.

We are making alternative arrangements to get another priest. Once confirmed the priest, we shall intimate to you.

Yours faithfully,

Fr. Varghese Chempoly

Meanwhile, the “new” Provincial Superior of the Vincentians of the Mary Matha Province, Fr. James Kallumkal VC, finally responded to me. From April 6th, almost 4 months ago, I have been addressing Fr. Paul Puthuva VC as the Provincial superior in all of my correspondence. Now, Fr. James Kallumkal reveals that he replaced Fr Paul Puthuva on May 4, but no one corrected me for the last three months. Neither did Fr Kallumkal write to me although he received a copy (along with all Vincentian priests) of my earlier reports as far back as on June 27!

In his communication, he refers to my unanswered (till now) emails of July 18 and July 24. They were written by me to him when Cardinal George Alencherry wrote to me that Fr. James Kallumkal was “prepared to do canonical procedure in the matter” (see further below).

I am Fr. James Kallumkal VC, the Provincial Superior of Marymatha Province of Vincentian Congregation. I was elected Provincial on May 04, 2017.

I am in receipt of your emails dated July 18 and July 24 (see further below) in respect of the alleged sexual abuse from the part of Fr. Joby Kachappilly.

In this regard we are initiating a preliminary enquiry in accordance with the norms of the Church. If you have further details that would help the enquiry, you can meet me in the Marymatha Provincial House, Angamaly.

You can take an appointment earlier for the purpose of meeting me, over phone (0484- 2425336) through my secretary on any working day between 9.30 am to 4.30 pm.

This attachment was sent today to the Vicariates of S. Arabia and Kuwait, to St Michael’s-Sharjah, and to all of our many contacts in Dubai-Sharjah-Oman-Abu Dhabi region.

Michael

To: Fr. Kallumkal James

CC: Cardinal George Alencherry

Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2017 16:49:57 +0530

Dear Father James,

Why are you shy to reply on the subject line mentioning the name of Fr. Joby Kachappilly that I have used in all my email correspondence with you and your confreres?

It is 17 and 10 days respectively since I wrote to you under the advice of Cardinal Alencherry, whereas, since you had received my initial intimation already on June 27th, you could have yourself written to me instead of delaying. You have also been in possession of my telephone number since June 27, long after you were elected Provincial Superior; you could have called me up.

It is now five full months since we first took up the issue with your predecessor. And, you are aware that absolutely NOTHING has been done. You intimate me now after 5 months that you are initiating a “preliminary enquiry” and suggest that I come to Angamaly!!! I cannot do that. We do not trust the Vincentian Congregation anymore. From day one, we have been suggesting a meeting in Bangalore starting with mid-May, now postponed because of your collective evasiveness to mid-August. It was and still is required that Fr. Joby Kachappilly VC be physically present before us.

If you are sincere, please have your representatives and Fr Kachappilly VC in Bangalore where my team and I will be there from 13th to 19th August solely on this case. My contact will be ***** *****. If you are not agreeable to this, our intention is to file a First Information Report (F.I.R.) with the police. We have already contacted the National Commission for Women in New Delhi. All evidence will be presented only to them and to the law.

Let us not waste each other’s time as we are engaged in preparing our dossier for processing the case in Bangalore.

This refers to your letters to me of July 13 and July 18. I took the initiative and wrote twice to the Provincial Superior of the Vincentians.

After holding out on my letters for 17 and 10 days respectively, Fr James Kallumkal VC Provincial Superior wrote only yesterday asking me/our team to come to their headquarters in Angamaly, Kerala, for the “initial enquiry” against the priest. I have immediately responded to him yesterday with copy to you. He had received my first intimation on June 27 itself, when he was already, according to him, the newly elected Provincial Superior. If they are sincere, why did they wait for so long to respond? It is now FIVE MONTHS since I commenced correspondence after initial wasted telephone calls with the Vincentian priests. From day one I have been insisting that we will meet with them on neutral ground in Bangalore where one of the young women was raped, but they have evaded responding to that and the other simple non-negotiable demands that we raised for our security.

One of them is that Fr. Joby Kachappilly be arraigned before our team in lieu of our going public. However, he is safely and comfortably ensconced in Rome from where his Superiors are allowing him to travel globally to preach charismatic retreats. This is absolutely scandalous. According to Annet and Don O’Mara, Organisers (spiritusrc@gmail.com) in their letter to us, his July 28-30 retreat in New York was cancelled. Now he has a retreat programme scheduled in Sharjah from September 2-4 as per the file attached herewith. But he cannot come to India to defend himself! It is evident that the priest is being supported, protected, and encouraged.

I have informed Fr. James Kallumkal VC that we have nothing more to say to them in the matter and that we are being forced to take the matter outside the Church in order to obtain justice.

Yours obediently,

Michael Prabhu

CC: FR. JAMES KALLUMKAL VC

BCC: Team Members

Here is my earlier correspondence with the Cardinal leading to that with Fr. Kallumkal:

A Vincentian priest of the Mary Matha Province has sexually molested/raped several young women for several years from at least the year 2013 till December 2015. The matter is known to many Vincentian priests, and I know this because I have been talking to them on the phone. Following some issues that surfaced in Toronto, Canada, he was recalled. However, he came to India and committed a rape in a hotel room in Bangalore after that. The Vincentians later sent him to Rome where he is now in hiding.

His name is Fr. Joby Kachappilly VC and he was Director, Divine Retreat Ashram, Faridabad.

Two of the raped girls are in contact with our team of Catholic lay persons and are ready to depose before the Church authorities in the presence of the perpetrator of the crimes.

We have been writing many letters to the Church authorities from March 2017 and till date, nothing has been done. It is four months now.

I have spoken on the phone to the Vincentian Provincial Superior, but eventually he turned hostile and hung up the phone on me.

I then wrote to their Superior General and to the Presidents of the CBCI and CCBI.

The same is the case with the other Vincentian priests who I approached.

I had earlier contacted an Archbishop, Most Rev. Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, the Syro-Malabar Archbishop of Faridabad, who agreed to mediate and ensure that justice is done. Our team laid out certain conditions for a meeting and fixed a day for the same, in Bangalore. The Archbishop summoned the Provincial and talked to him in person and then assured me on the phone as well as by a couple of emails that the Vincentian congregation would proceed as per our suggested directions. The Provincial wrote an email to me on April 7 assuring me that he “will look into the matter with due seriousness”. The Provincial was also committed to call a Council meeting on April 10 according to the Archbishop.

However, we have not heard anything from anyone till today.

Instead, what the priests are doing, ever since our team took up the case, has been to telephone and text the girls and their parents, sometimes from unknown numbers to catch them off guard. This is harassment which I specifically requested them to avoid. So, we got back to the Archbishop but it appears that he has no juridical control over the case because he wrote to me on the 20th of April, “Fr Joby being a religious, it is up to the competent Superior to take necessary actions on the matter.” I replied, saying that we have almost exhausted all our resources and requesting him to suggest some other option, but he has not responded.

Our experience from reading reports in the media has been that the Church authorities will never take action against the erring priests until the matter goes to the police and the press, the National Commission for Women and the secular media, which we are preparing to do in this case as the last resort.

However, as faithful Catholics, we prefer that this sordid scandal remains within the Church even though this priest deserves to be jailed for destroying innocent lives. So, we hope that it does not come to our going public.

We might add that he has molested one of them in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of the retreat centre in Faridabad where he was the Director, and he has once sent one of the raped girls pictures of himself completely disrobed and naked using Skype. He also travels in India as “Mr.” so-and-so, not as a priest, and we have proof of that.

Your Eminence, if you are interested in ensuring that the story of the molestation and rape of these girls by a Catholic priest does not surface in the national media, and that justice is done according to Church Law, please reply to me at michaelprabhu@vsnl.net.

If and when we hear positively from you, we will provide you with some of the details of the case including the non-negotiable conditions that we have set before the Provincial and the Archbishop in order to protect ourselves and the two rape survivors who we are representing. We are not prepared to talk anymore on the phone because it has proved futile till today and we would like to place our approaching Your Eminence on record in print.

As a final resort, we have written to you as the Supreme Head of the Syro-Malabar Church.

I have talked to Fr James Kallumkal VC, Provincial Superior of Mary Matha Province, Angamaly, about the alleged crime of sexual abuse from the part of Fr Joby Kachappilly VC. The present provincial is new in the office and he is prepared to do canonical procedure in the matter. You may kindly approach him and do the needful.

Dear Fr. James Kallumkal VC, Vincentian Provincial Superior, Mary Matha ProvinceI am writing to you under the instruction of Cardinal Alencherry who left it to me to get your contact details when he instead could have given them to me to facilitate our correspondence.You have already received my direct intimation 3 weeks ago on June 27 (but did not respond to it): Subject: SEXUAL MOLESTATION AND RAPE OF GIRLS BY VINCENTIAN PRIEST RETREAT CENTRE DIRECTOR. The copy of my communication to Cardinal George Alencherry, to which he has responded twice, is reproduced for you further below (at the end of this email). We cannot wait further than the 10th of August as that will make 5 months since we first contacted your predecessor and other Vincentian priests both directly and then later through the Archbishop of Faridabad.Please confirm to us that you will ensure that Fr. Joby Kachappilly is in Bangalore on the 10th of August. I will be there with our Bangalore team and, immediately on receipt of your confirmation, I will give you further details of the exact dates of our availability from which you can select one or two convenient days for our proposed meeting with you, your representatives, and Fr. Kachappilly.Meanwhile, because of the silence and lack of cooperation from the Church, we have already very regretfully set in motion our plans to file an F.I.R. etc. against the sexual molester/rapist. We are serious in our intent to bring Fr. Kachappilly to justice, if not through and in the Church with your cooperation, then under the Law of the land.Michael Prabhu, ChennaiBCC: The rape survivors/Bangalore team members